1. Field of the Invention
This invention is generally directed to vehicle trailers of the high mount type which are conventionally used to transport automotive vehicles, light trucks and the like and which normally include an upper vehicle support deck and a lower vehicle support deck which are connected by an open frame construction and wherein the trailers are designed to be pulled by a tractor. More specifically, the present invention is directed to fully enclosed containers which can be mounted within the lower vehicle support decks of the high mount trailers so as to be positioned within a conventional loading space for an automotive vehicle and wherein, in a preferred embodiment, the containers include supplemental storage compartments of a size to be positioned within open frameworks of goose neck portions of the trailers. The containers are specifically designed to transport vehicles and other cargo which are conventionally not transportable utilizing such open vehicle trailers including motorcycles, all terrain vehicles, antique, collector, classic and exotic automobiles and the like which must be protected from the ambient environment and roadway during transport.
2. Description of the Related Art
High mount automotive vehicle carriers or trailers are used throughout the world to transport a plurality of vehicles simultaneously. Conventionally, such vehicle trailers include an upper vehicle support deck and a lower vehicle support deck each of which may support one or plurality of vehicles. The trailers are generally constructed of opening steel framework and many are hydraulically adjustable so as to change the height and angle of orientation of separate support platforms on which vehicles are mounted during transport. Because of the open framework construction of such trailers, the vehicles carried thereon are subject not only to ambient weather conditions but also to hazards associated with road conditions including dirt, rocks and debris which could damage vehicle finishes.
In the new car industry, many manufacturers protect the top surface finish of vehicles by application of special plastic materials which may be removed when a vehicle has been received at a delivery location thereby reducing dealer preparation costs in refinishing or touching up damage surface areas of vehicles which are transported along open highways.
Multiple high mount vehicle carriers are normally used to carry conventional or standard sized automobiles, light trucks and the like and are not suitable for transporting other types of equipment or vehicles. Further, because of the open nature of the trailers, they are not suitable for use in transporting many other goods including other types of vehicles such as motorcycles, dirt bikes, all terrain vehicles (ATV's), motorized scooters, specialized vehicles such as racing vehicles, antique or classic vehicles, exotic automobiles and the like which must be fully protected from ambient weather and road conditions when shipped in order to preserve their value. In addition, because of the limited hauling capabilities of such open framework trailers, drivers must often schedule special shipments to insure that when driving from point to point they are not pulling a partially filled trailer which is not economical when considering a driver's time, fuel energy usage, and wear and tear on trailer equipment.
In view of the foregoing, it has been proposed, in some prior art trailers, to fully enclose the upper and lower decks such that either vehicles or generalized cargo can be shipped within fully enclosed trailers. Unfortunately, such fully enclosed trailers are expensive to manufacture and present problems with respect to efficient loading and unloading due to the small space available to vehicle operators. The advantage of such trailers is that they can be used to haul generalized cargo such as crated cargo. Examples of such double use or convertible automotive carriers are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,575, to Blodgett et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,859, to Ehrlich.
Another type of trailer which is specifically designed to fully enclose vehicles when transported is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,510, to Johnson Jr. The patent discloses a trailer having a specialized deck system for supporting upper and lower rows of golf carts within an enclosed trailer body. The trailer body is more like a conventional tractor trailer and is not suitable for transporting conventional automotive and light truck type vehicles. Therefore, the trailer is only suitable for limited uses and cannot be used for hauling conventional automotive vehicles and light trucks.
In view of the foregoing, there remains a need to increase the utility of conventional high mount or double decker automotive carriers or trailers such that they can be used for carrying a plurality of automotive or light truck vehicles or can be used for hauling not only conventional automobiles and light trucks but simultaneously for hauling specialized vehicles including motorcycles, classic, collector and antique automotive vehicles and the like as well as other goods wherein such specialized vehicles and goods are shipped in a fully enclosed container carried by the automotive trailer.